Teesta deal to be signed on agreed formula: Rizvi

FE Report The much-talked-about Teesta water-sharing agreement will be signed with India in line with a formula agreed earlier, said Dr Gawhar Rizvi, International Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on Monday. "We still hold on to this stance and no other formula will be accepted," he said while addressing a luncheon meeting organised by France-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB) held at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the city. The topic of discussion in the meeting was impact of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh on bilateral development of trade, commerce and industry. Addressing as the chief guest, the adviser said the Teesta agreement was not signed due to some internal problems of India. "The problem is between Delhi and Kolkata. Dhaka has nothing to do with this."He said Indo-Bangla relationship has been caught up in our domestic politics for long. There is a perception which politicians injected to the people that 'You should not trust India as India does not trust us'. The adviser said India and Bangladesh share 2,400 miles of border that is world's largest. Bangladesh-India relationship is the most important for this region. He said the relation between India Bangladesh has got a new shape and a new trust has been created after this (AL-led alliance) government came to power, specially after Hasina's visit to Delhi in January 2010. The two Premiers agreed on some common issues for the betterment of the peoples of two countries. He said during the discussion between two countries two main things were high on the agenda - the first one was connectivity and the second water and power issue. Dr Rizvi said 80 per cent of the Teesta River is in India and 20 per cent in Bangladesh. But Bangladesh wants fifty-fifty share of water.